U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell reassured Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Tuesday that Washington backs a Palestinian state as the way to achieve peace in the Middle East. Powell, in Malaysia for less than a day as part of an eight-nation tour of Asian states, met Mahathir for 40 minutes for talks.

Powell also met Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who is due to replace Mahathir when he retires next year, has warned that growing Muslim anger over Israel's actions against Palestinians could breed more extremist movements like the al Qaeda network.

"We did discuss the Middle East …, and I described to them President Bush's vision... and his commitment to bringing into being the Palestinian state," Powell told reporters. "I wanted to make sure they knew that the United States intended to remain fully engaged until the president's goal, and the goal of all the people in the region, for these two nations to live side by side in peace...comes to a reality," he added, according to Reuters. (Albawaba.com)